Handling Pesticides Poses Asthma Risk for Farm Women

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, North Carolina, December 31, 2007 (ENS) - New research on farm women has shown that contact with some commonly used pesticides may increase their risk of allergic asthma.

'Farm women are an understudied occupational group,' said Jane Hoppin, Sc.D., of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and lead author of the study. 'More than half the women in our study applied pesticides, but there is very little known about the risks.'

The study was published in the first issue for January of the 'American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine,' published by the American Thoracic Society.

The researchers assessed pesticide and other occupational exposures as risk factors for adult-onset asthma in more than 25,000 farmwomen in North Carolina and Iowa.

They used self-reports of doctor-diagnosed adult asthma, and divided the women into groups of allergic or non-allergic asthma based on a history of eczema and/or hay fever.

They found an average increase of 50 percent in the prevalence of allergic asthma in all farm women who applied or mixed pesticides.

Although the association with pesticides was higher among women who grew up on farms, these women still had a lower overall risk of having allergic asthma compared to than those who did not grow up on farms, due to a protective effect that remains poorly understood.

'Growing up on a farm is such a huge protective effect it's pretty hard to overwhelm it,' said Dr. Hoppin. '[But] about 40 percent of women who work on farms don't report spending their childhoods there. It is likely that the association with pesticides is masked in the general population due to a higher baseline rate of asthma.'

Dr. Hoppin also found that most pesticides were associated only with allergic asthma, even though non-allergic asthma is generally more common in adults.

Some legal but rarely used compounds, such as parathion, were associated with almost a three-fold increase in allergic asthma. But even some commonly used pesticides were associated with a marked increase in allergic asthma prevalence.

Malathion, for example, a widely used insecticide, was associated with a 60 percent increased prevalence of allergic asthma.

Of all the compounds examined, only permethrin, a commonly used insecticide that is used in consumer items such as insect-resistant clothing to anti-malaria bed-nets, was associated with both allergic and non-allergic asthma.

This is the first study to examine pesticides and asthma in farm women, and it points the way for future research to clarify the relationship.

'There is a difference in asthma prevalence between women who did and did not use pesticides but whether it is causal or not remains to be seen,' said Dr. Hoppin.

Dr. Hoppin and her colleagues are planning a large scale study that will better evaluate the links between pesticide exposures and asthma. 'We want to characterize the clinical aspects of this disease, as well as lifetime exposures to agents that may either protect against asthma or increase risk,' said Dr. Hoppin. 'We hope to start the study in 2008.'

Most popular related searches

Related news

Currently, the most common and valuable processing method is to turn cow dung/manure into sellable organic fertilizer. Cow dung is a derived product from wastes produced by cattle, providing high levels of organic materials and rich in nutrients, including about nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium as well as many other essential nutrients. According to the data, daily cow dung contain 12.9% DM and excreting a total of 0.15kg N, 0.04kg P and 0.08kg K. Moreover, cow manure also contains high levels of ammonia that...

Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), a national farmer-owned dairy cooperative, and Vanguard Renewables, a Massachusetts-based renewable energy developer, announce a strategic partnership to help bring anaerobic digestion technology to more farms across the country.
While waste management and environmental sustainability are top priorities for dairy farmers today, renewable energy methods, like anaerobic digesters that convert manure to energy, are not broadly used on American dairy farms. These systems often...

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Catoctin and Frederick Soil Conservation Districts hosted an event today to highlight the successful conservation efforts by farmers and ranchers that have led to the improvement of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Scott Yager NCBA’s Environmental Counsel said voluntary conservation efforts have proven successful at Hedgeapple Farm, an Angus operation located in Frederick, Md.
“We know the one-size-fits-all approach to conservation doesn’t work...

From the Category 1 video:
Hey, thanks for joining us here at LeeAgra today. We wanted to introduce a new product to you that we’re pretty excited about. It’s called our Farm Hand Hitch. I’m gonna very briefly describe the features of our Farm Hand and what exactly comes with a Farm Hand so that you’ll know what you’re getting and what you may need to purchase as optional equipment.
First and foremost this is a category 1 hitch on the implement side. The uniqueness of it though...

Coinciding with the launch of the new T-series in November 2014, the factory in Suolahti, Finland, began mass production of the newly developed and extensively tested tractor range. Across Europe, including in Germany, the first machines are already working on farmland and with contractors. We were present at one of the handovers, and talked to the new owners.
A white T174e Direct with front loader and AutoGuide system stands on the forecourt of our dealership, Udo Seibert LKG in Babenhausen, Hesse. The tractor...

Customer comments

No comments were found for Handling Pesticides Poses Asthma Risk for Farm Women. Be the first to comment!